The present invention relates to folder gluer machines for making paper cartons from a traveling carton blank, and more particularly to a support tool for temporarily supporting the top surface of the carton blank during a folding operation.
When making paper cartons, a traveling carton blank which has previously been cut to the appropriate shape and scored to define a main carton portion and at least one flap, is sent to a folder gluer machine for folding the flap to form a side wall of the carton and to glue the side walls together. Such paper cartons are typically employed in retail stores for boxing clothing or other similar items where a rigid carton is not required. In the folder gluer machine, a folding hook is typically employed to rotate and engage the bottom surface of the carton flap to bend the flap along the score line and form the side wall of the carton. The carton blank is typically traveling in a direction perpendicular to the score line so that the folding hook must be operated in timed relation to the speed of the traveling blank.
One problem that has developed in folder gluer machines is that occasionally a carton flap will buckle or kink when the folding hook engages its bottom surface. This results in improper carton formation and subsequent jamming of the blank in the folder gluer machine. The machine must then be stopped and cleared of the jam resulting in undesirable down time for the entire carton making operation. It has been found that this buckling or kinking occurs especially when employing recycled paperboard for the carton blank since recycled paperboard has little fibre or grain structure to provide "body" for the blank.